Publication:
Russian Federation Financial Sector Assessment Program: Insurance Sector Technical Note

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2016-07
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2016-09-13
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This technical note covers the insurance sector supervised by the CBR. The analysis was carried out as part of the 2016 Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) of the Russian Federation, and was based on the regulatory framework, supervisory practices and other conditions as they existed in March 2016. Relevant information including laws, by-laws and regulations as well as responses to a questionnaire sent out in advance were provided by the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) before and during the mission. The assessment has been supported by discussions with the CBR and the insurance market participants. the Russian insurance industry ranked 27th in the world. Non-life insurance premium accounted for 89 percent of GPW while life insurance for only 11 percent. Another factor that further undermined the profitability of the insurance industry in 2013-2015 has been the raising claims inflation in the MTPL segment of the market. In 2015, the industry also faced with the consequences of the Western economic sanctions which effectively closed access to the high quality Western reinsurance capacity for the Russian insurers that provide coverage for 1500 large Russian companies that were put on the sanctions list. In the past, the Western reinsurers provided over 80 percent of reinsurance capacity for such risks. The further consolidation of the sector will lead to a better performing insurance market.In the case of Russia, the main objective of insurance supervision is to ensure that insurers fully comply with core regulatory norms fixed by the law in the following four areas of insurance operations: (a) solvency (capital adequacy); (b) insurance reserves; (c) assets covering own funds; and (d) assets covering reserves. The most profound implications of the current rule-based insurance supervision is a likely underestimation of the sector’s solvency. While the dispersion of insurance supervisory functions among numerous CBR departments with various reporting lines carries certain advantages (such as a reduced potential for the conflict of interest), it also has a potential for major drawbacks.
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World Bank; International Monetary Fund. 2016. Russian Federation Financial Sector Assessment Program: Insurance Sector Technical Note. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/25065 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.
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